My Name is Ginny Weasley
by Ija
Summary: In Chamber of Secrets, Harry doesn't stab the Diary, but the memory Riddle. He doesn't realise that this will destroy Ginny too. Come Half Blood Prince, Ginny Weasley may be dead, but she's far from gone, and it's time she made a difference to things. Warnings: Will not contain Harry/Ginny, other pairings all canon. T for slight gore.
1. Prologue

_Hey, readers. Haven't done this for a while now. Okay, this is my first full-length piece, and it's an AU starting from Chamber of Secrets, mostly taking place in Half-Blood Prince. This is just a prologue, and large chunks of it are lifted straight from JK Rowling's work. Ton of my premise, so please have the patience to continue the prologue doesn't give much of an indication of my premise, so please at least continue to Chapter one, which will be online in about __an hour._

_**Disclaimer: **I do not own Harry Potter.  
_

"I'm going to sit here and watch you die, Harry Potter. Take your time. I'm in no hurry."

Harry felt drowsy. Everything around him seemed to be spinning."So ends the famous Harry Potter," said Riddle's distant voice. "Alone in the Chamber of Secrets, forsaken by his friends, defeated at last by the Dark Lord he so unwisely challenged. You'll be back with your dear Mudblood mother soon, Harry… She bought you twelve years of borrowed time… but Lord Voldemort got you in the end, as you knew he must…"If this is dying, thought Harry, it's not so bad.

Even the pain was leaving him…But was this dying? Instead of going black, the Chamber seemed to be coming back into focus. Harry gave his head a little shake and there was Fawkes, still resting his head on Harry's arm. A pearly patch of tears was shining all around the wound — except that there was no wound.

"Get away, bird," said Riddle's voice suddenly. "Get away from him — I said, get away —"Harry raised his head. Riddle was pointing Harry's wand at Fawkes; there was a bang like a gun, and Fawkes took flight again in a whirl of gold and scarlet.

"Phoenix tears…" said Riddle quietly, staring at Harry's arm."Of course… healing powers… I forgot…"He looked into Harry's face. "But it makes no difference. In fact, I prefer it this way. Just you and me, Harry Potter… you and me…"

He raised the wand…Then, in a rush of wings, Fawkes had soared back overhead and something fell into Harry's lap — the fang. For a split second, both Harry and Riddle, wand still raised, stared at it. Then, without thinking, without considering, as though he had meant to do it all along, Harry seized the basilisk fang and hurled it straight into Voldemort's heart. There was a long, dreadful, piercing scream. Ink spurted out of the diary in torrents, streaming over Harry's hands, flooding the floor. Riddle was writhing and twisting, screaming and flailing and then —

He had gone, vanished in a puff of black smoke. And so, to Harry's utter horror, was Ginny Weasley's unconscious body. Harry's wand fell to the floor with a clatter and there was silence until he broke himself out of his stupor and ran from the Chamber as fast as his legs could carry him, tears streaming down his face.


	2. The Voice

_Help me, Luna... find me, Luna... I can help you all, Luna, you just have to let me bring you here..._

Luna sat up in her bed, panting. This was not a normal dream- not four nights running. At first, it had seemed a harmless mild Nargle infestation, and she had brushed down her bedcurtains with cedar wood accordingly, to keep them out, but it hadn't stopped, And the voice was so familiar, like an old friend she had forgotten. But that wasn't possible, for Luna had only one childhood friend, and her funeral had long since been held.

She decided there was no point going to sleep now, and decided to go and visit the others in the Hospital Wing before breakfast. Humming to herself, Luna pulled on her robes, abandoned the hunt for her shoes and wore slippers, and headed downstairs.

"You're up early," said the knocker, yawning. Luna frowned.

"Do eagles yawn?" she asked. The door knocker shrugged- she wasn't sure if eagles could do that either- and watched as she slipped away towards the Hospital Wing.

"Morning, Luna," Hermione said quietly over the top of her book. "You're up early."

"So are you, Luna pointed out, stretching slightly. "May I join you?"

"Of course." Hermione shuffled over to make room. Luna sat down on the next bed instead, and pulled out her _Quibbler_. Hermione rolled her eyes but said nothing, and the two read in companionable silence, until it was broken by a voice only Luna heard.

"_Luna... I know you can hear me, Luna... Come and find me Luna, please, I want to help..."_

Luna jumped up and left immediately, pretending she had decided to go and find her shoes before breakfast. The voice was always slow to follow her about the school- just as if it were a physical presence following her- beside her- pulling her- guiding her-

Luna came to a stop outside Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. "How did I get here?" she asked softly, not expecting the reply that came.

"_I showed you the way... come this way, Luna, I'm right here... please don't leave me in the dark..."_

Luna hesitated. "Where are you?"

"I'm right behind you."

Luna almost jumped in shock, turning slowly to face Colin Creevey's little brother. "What are you doing here, Dennis?"

"Dunno."

"Oh." She left quickly, heading down towards breakfast. She ate with a few girls from the DA, not engaged in their conversation but surrounded by it, forming a solid wall of giggles and rumours to shield her from the disembodied voice. It really was like having friends.

"We'll need all the help we can get, said a Hufflepuff prefect at the next table. "If every student we had were as brave as the Potter kid, we'd win this war as quick as anything."

Luna's thoughts stopped in their tracks.

Brave.

Would it be brave, to follow the disembodied voice in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom? Was it the right thing to do, would it be wise in the long run?

It could be.

She could leave a note, explain where she was. And she'd take her wand.

It couldn't be too dangerous.

"_Please, Luna... Come and get me..."_

'_I'm coming,' _she thought decisively. _'I'm coming.'_


	3. The Diary

_A/N: There is something very wrong with the line breaks. If there apparently pointless line breaks, I apologise, but they just will not do as I want. Also, you may want to know- this is my usual update regularity (or lack thereof). Sorry, but once or twice a month is all that comes. Enjoy!_

Luna walked with her eyes closed, letting the voice guide her. She hadn't stumbled once, her hands had reached out of their own accord to open doors. At one point her mouth had worked without her knowledge, producing an angry, hissing noise before she had jumped into some kind of slanted tunnel like a wet slide, and then again before the heaviest door of all.

Her eyes opened. She was in a huge, dark room, damp and foreboding. On the floor before her was a slim, black diary lying in a murky puddle.

"Oh..."she said softly. Her eyes were wide with dismay. "You're the diary. Tom Riddle's diary. Harry _told_ me about you." The diary was open, and words appeared on the page.

_**Hello, Luna Lovegood.**_

She rummaged in her bag for a pen.

_Who are you?_

_**It's me, Luna. Ginny Weasley.**_

Luna froze. _I don't know that's quite possible. I went to your funeral you know._

_**Was it any good? Nobody cried, did they?**_

_I think there was crying. And it was a very pretty funeral. There were lots of white roses._

_**So you believe I'm me, now, do you?**_

_Well, where does one find Nargles most often?_

_**Mistletoe, isn't it?**_

_Then you're Ginny. You were the only person who ever listened to me about that._

She picked up the diary, and found somewhere dry to sit, far from the rotting basilisk corpse and dripping drains. _What happened, then?_

_**When Harry killed Tom, when he threw him out of the diary... I think, I'm not sure, but I think I got sort of sucked in instead. I can do a lot of things now. I think he left some things behind. I can help you. **_

_How?_

_**I can tell you things. His secrets. How he survived...**_

_Would you mind if I waited until after the summer to tell the others?_

Luna walked with the diary open, watching for Ginny's reply.

_**Why on Earth would you do that?**_

_Well, I remember that, when Professor Dumbledore announced Cedric Diggory's death right before the holiday, everybody said that it was a mistake. I wouldn't like for them all to know that you are in this Diary, and have to spend the whole of the summer waiting. Daddy and I won't be in the country, I imagine I shall have a lot of trouble with the owl post. _

_**Well... That makes sense. You're a bit trusting, aren't you, Luna? Imagine I were a Dark Wizard, I'd have you.**_

_If you were a Dark Wizard, wouldn't I have not have the chance to take you home in the first place.**  
**_

_**This could be a plot, I'm only saying.**_

_If it is, it's a rather poorly-executed one. It's all rather suspicious._

* * *

"See you in September!" Luna called to Hermione, the only DA member left, as she boarded the Knight Bus with her father.

"Are we going straight to the Portkey site, Daddy?"

"Yes, dear. You don't need to pick anything up from home, do you?"

"No, Daddy, I'm ready-" She broke off as the bus took a sharp bend. The Diary flew across the floor, landing neatly at Stan's feet. He picked it up.

"What the bloomin' 'eck are you doing with this ol' thing? Tha's before you were born, innit, luv?"

"It's a friend's," Luna said, not quite lying. "I'm looking after it for her."

"It 'er granny's or summin?"

"Something, yes..."

Luna picked up it up and slipped it into her bag.

"I don't recognise that, Luna? Did you say it was a friend's?"

"It was on of the Weasleys'. I agreed to hold onto it for the summer- it would give me something to do whenever we aren't busy with the expedition. Did you say there was a new technique they want to try out?"

"Why, yes. It's quite fascinating..."

As her father continued, it occured to Luna that, when the Diary had fallen away, a flutter of panic had surged through her. Luna didn't panic ofte, and there had been an odd, foreign feel to it. Almost as if the emotion weren't hers.

_"Oops_," said a voice in her head. _"This could be problematic."_


	4. The Confession

_A/N: I'm so sorry that this is incredibly late. I had it almost finished in mid-February, but I hadn't even thought of writing after my Grandmother's sudden death on the 7th. Thank you all for being so patient._

* * *

_**Do you know what happened to my wand?**_

The question came out of nowhere. Luna had opened the Diary as she sat around the fire with the other Snorkack hunters, having discovered that scribbling in a notebook went unnoticed far easier than staring into space talking to the voice in her head. The question had appeared almost immediately.

_What?_

_**Well, it didn't work out all that well when I used yours.**_

Luna eyed the charred mark on the wall where Ginny had tried casting magic whilst possessing Luna for the first time.

_I'll admit it could have gone better. So you want your old wand back._

_**Yes. I wasn't buried with it, was I? Mum wouldn't waste the wand, not when I got it from new.**_

_No, you weren't buried with it. It's at the memorial._

_**Memorial?**_

_Your memorial. By the entrance to Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. Didn't you notice it?_

_**I was a bit preoccupied at the time, unfortunately. Can we get it?**_

_Not until we've told your family. Which we really do have to do, Ginny._

_**What? Why?**_

_Because that would be theft? It's not technically either of our wands._

_**It is my wand!**_

_It's your next-of-kin's wand. You died._

Luna hesitated, realising too late that that had been blunt, even for her. She scribbled an apology. Ginny didn't reply for a few seconds, and Luna felt her heartbeat speed up.

_**It's fine. I know. I'll think of a way to tell them. And while I'm doing that, you can talk to your boyfriend.**_

Luna glanced up. Rolf Scamander approached, holding two hot butterbeers. Rolf was in Luna's year at Hogwarts, but the two had never interacted until their fathers' joint expedition to Sweden this year. The only teenagers present, they had spent most of their free time together, much to the amusement of one Ginny Weasley.

"You looked cold," Rolf explained, taking the next seat. "Butterbeer?"

Luna accepted, putting the diary away. "How did your group do? You went with the flyers, didn't you?"

Rolf nodded. "And what a mistake it was. Freezing altitudes in a freezing country, and not a Crumple-Horned Snorkack in sight. I'm beginning to think Mum's right and there's no suck thing."

Luna waved her quill at him chidingly. "There's no cause to think that. They're known to be very clever. They must have heard you coming and hidden in a snowdrift." Rolf stared at her for a second. Luna held his gaze evenly.

"That didn't even occur to me. How did you get that idea?"

"Well, where else would they be? There's no tree cover for miles around, and Snorkacks can't fly."

"Of course not."

Luna had the faint impression that he might be teasing her, but ignored it. Neither she nor Rolf spoke for a moment, sipping at their butterbeer.

"What _is_ that book you always have on you?" Rolf asked.

Luna froze. She felt Ginny's panic merge with her own. "It's not important," she said, in the vaguest, dreamiest tone she could manage.

"Yeah? Because you always have it on you, I noticed."

"It's my diary."

He raised an eyebrow. Luna blushed from sheer nerves at the bald-faced lie. This was more Ginny's forte than hers, but Ginny barely knew Rolf.

"Your diary?"

"I keep a diary of ideas," Luna invented wildly. She was atrocious at making things up. "Thoughts, dreams, impressions. I think it's very important to remember what happens to you. So that, you, you'll know. If you've been attacked. By... nargles."

He looked at her as if she were mad. This was nothing new to Luna, but the embarrassment that came with it was. She felt a flush of guilt at spreading misinformation about nargles, but forced it down and held Rolf's gaze. He shrugged, sitting back slightly.

"I just never really saw you as the diary-keeping type. So, Miss Lovegood. Tell me something new about the world, why don't you?"

Luna smiled, letting out the breath she hadn't known she was holding. "Well, Mr Scamander... What do you know about the blibbering humdinger?"

* * *

It was the 31st of August, and Ginny had never been so agitated as she was not in all the time the two girls had shared a mind.

_Do calm down, Ginny. Aren't you looking forwards to seeing the Thestrals?_

**No I am bleeding well not! Because before I see the Thestrals, I'm going to have to see my brothers, and my mum, and Harry, and oh Merlin what am I going to do?**

_I don't know, what are you going to do? Luna tilted her head thoughtfully. Have you seen my Spectraspecs? Things don't usually start going missing until I'm at least on the train._

**This is not the time to worry about Spectraspecs!** Ginny's writing was blotchy and shaky. Luna sighed, and put the Diary down.

_"I have to pack before we go to the Burrow. We're very lucky Daddy isn't here to see how little I've done. He'd think I'd been caught unawares by nargles."_

_"I thought your earrings protected you." _Ginny sounded rather petulant. They had been experimenting with this mind-to-mind speaking for quite some time now, and had mostly got the hang of it. Ginny theorised it was a kind of partial possession, which could explain why it tired her so much, forcing her back into the Diary as soon as she ran out of energy.

_"No, but my Spectraspecs let me see them. If I can find them. Do you suppose the nargles took them so that they could remain hidden?"_

_"Can we please worry about meeting my family? We've only got three hours!"_

_"Why are you so worried? Do you think they won't believe you are who you are?" _Ginny's silence was answer enough._ "They will. You're still Ginny Weasley, you know... Do you want to take a rest? I'll tell you before we leave."_

_"Rest... Yeah, I'll do that... Pull myself together a bit. Thanks, Luna."_

Ginny's presence retreated. Luna finished packing slowly, unearthing her Spectraspecs under a small pile of letters from she knew it, it was time to leave.

_"Oh, Merlin, oh Merlin, oh Merlin, Merlin, Merlin..."_

_"Ginny, it's fine. You're you. Their daughter. The worst that could possibly happen is they'll ask for proof that you're not Tom Riddle or an unfortunate nargle infestation."_

Ginny laughed shakily. It was Ginny's hand which knocked on the door, Ginny who nodded hello to her mother. Luna took a back seat and watched the proceedings. Ginny had a different way of moving she noted. Luna was aware that she moved as if sleepwalking, her eyes alight with wonder at the world she saw around her. When Ginny was in control, her eyes were glassy and unmoving, her actions sharp and precise.

"You said you had something to tell us, Luna, dear?" Molly asked tentatively.

"Yes," Ginny said, her voice shaking with nerves. "I'm not Luna Lovegood." She reached into Luna's bag and pulled out the Diary. "It's me, Mum. It's Ginny."


	5. The Revelation

Molly's face went white. Ron- the only one of the Weasley children still living at home- leaped up and pulled out his wand.

"That's not possible," Arthur breathed. "That- that's the Diary. But- Harry killed the bit of Riddle's soul in it. What _are _you?"

"My name is Ginny Weasley," Ginny said softly. "At the end of my first year at Hogwarts, I was possessed by a bit of Tom Riddle's soul, trapped in this diary. When Harry stabbed him, his soul left a void. I was sucked in. What happened to my body, I have no idea. Luna thought I was buried until she wrote to Harry and asked."

"You _can't _be Ginny," Ron insisted. "Ginny's dead! What did you do to Luna?"

"It's me, Ron. I can prove it. My first memory is one of the twins carrying me down the stairs and falling, and Mum cast a hovering charm to save us both. I've loved flying ever since. You're scared of spiders because Fred turned your teddy bear into one once. Ask me anything."

"You-Know-Who could have gotten any of that off of Harry. He knows all our stories about you, after your funeral. Tell me something _only _Ginny and one of us knew."

Ginny swallowed. Luna felt an uncharacteristic flutter of nerves at the three wands aimed at her. "Mum. Percy's first girlfriend was Penelope Clearwater. He told you after she was petrified, but I was the only one who found out, though."

Molly froze. "It- it's true."

Ron blinked. "Really? That Ravenclaw prefect- anyway, does that mean… is this Ginny?"

"Hi, Ron," Ginny breathed, quiet words through Luna's lips. "I think you might want to put the kettle on. We could all do with a cup of tea."

Arthur jerked up and grabbed Luna's shoulders, pulling her into a hug. Soon, one messy blonde head was hidden under a mass of taller red, and they held on for dear life. When they finally drew back, it was with tear-stained faces and shaking hands. Luna's visage, however, was blank and emotionless, hiding the relief Ginny felt.

"You- you do that, Ron. Make you mother a cuppa. I'll Floo- Floo the others. They need to be here."

"Percy, too," Molly insisted.

"Percy, too," Arthur agreed, throwing far too much powder into the fireplace. He didn't tell any of his sons why they needed to come, but his tone left none of them in any doubt that it was urgent. Even Percy barely stammered out a rebuttal before falling silent and stepping through the flame. Ron told them the story while Arthur held onto Luna's hand and Molly pottered distractedly around the kitchen. The family were deathly silent. Even the twins refrained from comment. Percy's hands seemed to shake, and Bill took one comfortingly. Ginny watched from Luna's motionless body, perched awkwardly on the sofa, but said nothing until asked to prove her identity once again. She was beginning to dread the arrival of Hermione, later that day, and Harry, the next evening. The conversation dissolved into another group hug, and Ginny began to feel the energy holding her in Luna's body draining.

"I can't stay much longer," she said dully. Despite all this practise, she still struggled to put any inflection in Luna's voice. "I'm not keen on draining Luna down to an empty husk, so I need to go back to the Diary soon."

"Oh." George glanced down at the slim volume lying on the table. "Is it- are you… What's it like in there?"

"Dark," Ginny told him bluntly. "Dark and cold and incredibly boring. It's much better with Luna around. And it is beautiful when someone writes in it."

"What do you mean?"

Ginny laughed. It was odd, coming from Luna's blank face. "The words explode across the sky like fireworks. All in bright colours. And of course, there's all the memories to looks at."

"Memories? Your memories?" Ron's face fell. "Or his?"

"Both. Mine are much more fun, of course. But his are useful."

"I suppose, then, we… we should contact the Order. Dumbledore needs to know about this. Do you… do you know what happened? Can you tell us?"

"That depends," Ginny replied. "What do you know-"

Suddenly she slumped, sapped away back into the Diary. Luna sat back up, blinking owlishly. "What do you know," she continued, "About Horcruxes?"

Bill gasped, dropping his tea. "H-horcruxes?" he stammered. "That's a _Horcrux_?"

It was probably just as well, Ginny would muse later, that Luna was as utterly unflappable as she was. She explained calmly to the rest of the Weasleys all she knew: the Horcruxes Voldemort had planned to make, the immortal power that seven Horcruxes would grant. How Basilisk venom could kill a Horcrux, but, when Harry had stabbed the phantom Riddle, he had killed the soul and not the Horcrux, causing Ginny to be sucked in in his place.

"And you, Luna- are you all right with all of this? Having Ginny in your mind?"

"Well, she's not here right now. She's replenishing her strength in the Diary. But I am perfectly well, for all that this situation seems odd."

Fred gave an odd, choked laugh. "Odd. Merlin, Luna, we really can count on you to give us the understatement of the year."

"Thank you."

"Ginny… I can't believe she's _alive_."

"Well, mostly alive."

"Yes, _thank you_, George."

"Sorry, Mum."


End file.
